I realllly want an 8 shot N frame .357. I am concerned about the Scandium frame vs the all steel. Weight and recoil are not a concern, but I do wonder about how it will hold up. I am looking at the 327 TRR8. If you have one, how is it holding up?

I'll admit I don't have a large round count through my TRR8, but so far so good. If you shoot hot loads with light bullets you might have a potential issue with eroding the shield above the chamber/cylinder gap, but mine is just fine (I prefer 158gr loads).

It's surprisingly easy to shoot; even though it's quite a bit lighter than the steel frame versions, the size means you still have a decent amount of mass there, so recoil is easily managed.

The question of relative durability of steel versus alloy-framed handguns will likely be asked forever. Common sense tells you that the steel gun will survive a higher round count, all else being equal; and the fact is, these guns were designed to be carried much and shot little. But I would say that your hand is more likely to fall apart before an alloy-framed J-K-or-N-frame will if you're shooting full-house loads, so the overall question is really pretty moot.

I will not be buying aluminum alloy frames with or without scandium from now on. I feel borderline betrayed by my 637. It was fine when I bought it, it has never seen +P the whole time I owned it and it cracked. Now that I'm shopping for another Airweight or similar I'm seeing cracked frames more and more. Maybe the N frame would have enough beef in the frame under the barrel to hold up but I don't need to roll the dice like that. And the idea that they will just keep fixing it does nothing for me. If they just have to keep fixing it then I would say that is a known problem and should be done away with. Milking the repair department for all of S&W's money only drives up the price of everything they sell. I will avoid alloy for that reason alone. Besides, the dang scandium guns are priced so high it's like they know they will be giving you two guns for the price of one.

Or I could just be really sore over this issue since my 637 cracked me up.

Max that is just what I did not want to hear. The point that Pisgah makes about "carry more, shoot less" is very valid for this frame material. It is starting to smell like all steel. While it may have been obvious from the start-the 327 TRR8 just looks so good.

Not to defend S&W -- but if it is true that cracked frames are becoming more frequent I would suspect flaws in manufacture, and not in design. There have been many, many alloy-framed S&Ws turned out over the decades, and while cracked frames have not been unheard-of they have been rare. I would hope that IF this is a real problem, S&W is looking hard at what is going on. Whether it's improperly-torqued barrels or improperly-forged frames, something must be wrong in how they're being put together.